Derby County alarm bells are sounding as predictable trajectory underlines harsh reality

Derby County alarm bells are sounding as predictable trajectory underlines harsh reality

Rams hit the woodwork three times as they were sucked closer to the Championship

relegation zone with a 2-0 defeat at home to Watford.

 

After James Abankwah was booked for a late tackle on Nathaniel Mendez-Laing,

Watford’s response was immediate as Kwadwo Baah outstripped Eiran Cashin for pace before crossing into the box.

 

Derby did not deal with the cross and there was Imran Louza to sweep up as he prodded

his shot beyond Jacob Widell Zetterstrom. Paul Warne’s side began to ask some questions of their own

with Cashin completely miskicking a cross from Mendez-Laing when any connection would have resulted in an equaliser.

 

Warne’s side then fashioned their best move of the game when Kenzo Goudmijn released Kane Wilson

whose cross to the back post was met by Mendez-Laing whose shot cannoned off the bar.

It fell back to Kayden Jackson whose overhead kick also hit the frame of the goal.

Just before half-time, Cashin saw a header tipped over by Bond as they looked for an equaliser

but the resulting corner came to nothing.

 

Derby upped the tempo after the break and again Derby wasted a couple of excellent chances as

Mendez-Laing fired straight at Bond following good work from Yates and then Adams hit the outside of the

post after good work from Yates. At the other end, Moussa Sissoko then hit the bar with his effort

bouncing off the woodwork onto the head of Zetterstrom and out for a corner.

 

But Watford eventually had their second when a quick counter-attack led to Vakoun Bayo slipping in

Edo Kayembe who made no mistake with the finish. Derby tried valiantly to get back into the game,

but could not find a goal as their miserable run continues with Warne’s side now just a point above the drop zone.

Derby following a predictable path

The league table makes for nervous reading, and in fairness,

Paul Warne did not hide from questions about the reaction at full-time or the current form,

which he said wasn’t good enough.

 

Tension is mounting, and sitting one point above the relegation zone is sparking understandable

anxiety after this fourth successive league defeat against a Watford team that was too powerful and

too quick on the counter-attack. It isn’t being helped by sides below them chalking up victories and

the boos at full-time told their own story at the end of a game that followed many that have gone before it.

Chances created, chances missed. The woodwork rattled three times, although to add balance,

Watford could have scored more had it not been for poor finishing and a couple of decent saves from

Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.

 

But the harsh reality is that Derby are a team high in effort but lacks true quality in the crucial moments.

In League One, they could get away with it, but the Championship is a totally different beast.

Every chance Derby miss seems to be punished by the team at the opposite end.

Sheffield Wednesday taught us that, as did Swansea, and the list could go on.

We can’t keep talking about hard luck stories of course,

and the alarm is sounding after just four wins in 19 games. Warne knows that isn’t good enough,

but is this anything we did not expect? It was always going to be a gruelling campaign and the season is now following a trajectory that many expected before a ball was kicked in the summer.

It’s going to be a nervy second half to the season and Derby need to pull a rabbit out of the hat in the short term

just to ease some of the pressure and quieten the discontent that will only get louder the longer it goes on.

Blackett-Taylor impresses

The Derby winger unfortunately took a blow to the knee in the late stages of this game,

and according to Warne, it was just a contact injury.

The hope is that he will be fit to face Sunderland on Tuesday providing the swelling isn’t too bad.

But his cameo from the substitutes’ bench certainly added a freshness and

pace to an attack that did cause Watford problems.

 

He is certainly pushing for a start on Tuesday and he just has that speed that defenders struggle to live with.

The problem with Blackett-Taylor, however, does centre on his durability.

 

He had to come off against Leyton Orient because he was tightening up and he suffered an injury here.

But there can be no dispute that he can add pace and unpredictability that will trouble most in this league because, as they say, speed kills.

 

Derby are not blessed with many players of his pace and he’s certainly cast himself into Warne’s

thinking for Tuesday, he just needs to make sure he stays fit.

Another midfield player needed

All being well, David Ozoh will return to training on Monday although it is pretty much expected that

it will be a while before we see him return to the team.

 

Ben Osborn can’t seem to play three games in a week which is a problem and Kenzo Goudmijn,

while he shows patches of creative excellence,

has found the physicality of the Championship tough to get to grips with.

 

Ebou Adams on the other hand has shown us that while

there are shortcomings with the technical side of his game,

more than makes up for it with his physicality and an uncanny ability to look as fresh in the

90th minute as he does the first.

 

Derby could do with the tenacity and engine of Adams,

but one who has the ability to make a difference in the final third. Derby are eager to add

another midfield player before the window closes and it has to be somebody who is durable,

creative and can physically handle the rigours of the Championship.

Lars Jorgen-Salvesen absence explained